Pilot’s family raises key questions

“How can he drown when he knew how to swim?" said Neelam Batra, mother of the deceased Jet Airways pilot. Kunal Batra's (23) body was found in a swimming pool on Sunday in the farmhouse of honorary consul of Togolese Republic in Kapashera in Southwest Delhi.

The post-mortem reports said Batra died of drowning in a swimming pool but some bruises on the victim's elbows have raised some questions.

“My son was six feet two inches tall and the pool was just a little over five feet. I believe something went wrong at the party,” said the victim’s mother Neelam Batra.

The police have questioned Sanchay Madaan, the victim’s friend from his school days at DPS International School, Vasant Kunj.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southwest) Kannan Jagdishan said, “We have questioned Madaan. He was the one who took the deceased to the party. He claimed that he was dancing at the time of the incident and did not know what happened.”

The police said Batra, who was found to be drunk, went with Madaan to a birthday party around 10:30 p.m. on Saturday. Police said there were around 150 guests at the party and they have procured the list to question all of them.

The victim’s father Rakesh said, “Kunal left from home on Saturday around 10:00 p.m. Usually he comes back from such parties by 4:00 a.m., but he did not return that night.”

“His mother called him up at 7:00 a.m. but he did not pick up both his cell phones. Around 9:15 a.m. we got a call from the police and they told us about our son’s death.”

Ankur Batra, the victim’s cousin, told HT that he went to Madaan’s house in D-Block Rajouri Garden after he got to know about the incident.

He said he found Madaan had some marks on his face.

“He didn’t give me any clear answer as to how he got them and told me that he did not know anything about the incident,” Ankur said.

“We are in no way suggesting that he or any of the friends had anything to do with the death. But we just want the truth to come out,” he added.

The police have also contacted the MCD to check whether the swimming pool at the consul was legally constructed or not. A case of unnatural death has been registered.